The chief engineer at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been killed by a Ukrainian drone near the station, the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom said.
Alexei Likhachev said on Wednesday in a statement that a Ukrainian drone had struck a service car between the plant's site and the town of Enerhodar, killing the engineer, Alexander Yakovlev, and the driver.
Russian forces took control of the plant in southeastern Ukraine, Europe's largest, with six reactors, in the first weeks of Russia's 2022 assault on Ukraine.
Each side has since regularly accused the other of military actions that endanger nuclear safety.
The city of Enerhodar, where most of the nuclear station's staff live, has been a frequent target of attacks.
'Unacceptable attack'
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, condemned the incident, while making no specific mention of Ukraine or Russia.
Grossi said it "represents an unacceptable attack on the plant and its management, seriously threatening nuclear safety."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, writing on Telegram, said: "This is a crime of the Kiev regime that Grossi must finally see — we demand a clear statement condemning this killing from the relevant international bodies, first and foremost the IAEA."
The Kremlin last Friday accused Ukraine of escalating what it called "terror" actions against the power station.
Russian strikes
Meanwhile, Russian attacks across Ukraine have killed 13 people and wounded 50, according to authorities.
The daytime attacks targeted industrial and medical facilities in the Black Sea port city of Odesa and in the northeastern city of Sumy, near the border with Russia.
Odesa endured another day of Russian drone and missile attacks targeting its port and civilian infrastructure, the authorities there said.
